The rule of thumb is that in a weak economy, people will be more compelled to return to school to brush-up on their skillset and/or bide their time until better jobs return. In a strong economy, education will get pushed down in the priority rankings. Well it appears we are in the midst of a period where the “time is money” adage is in effect.

College enrollment in the spring semester dropped 2 percent from the year before, to 18.6 million, according to a report being released Thursday by the nonprofit National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The steepest drop was among students in their mid-20s and older who are re-entering the workforce. The report doesn’t examine whether students are dropping out or declining to enroll in the first place.

More potential college students are favoring the short-term benefits of a job, rather than the long-term returns of college, said Jason DeWitt, the center’s manager of research services. “If someone has bills to pay, they may not have a choice in the matter,” he said.”

If the jobs are there, people will go for the bucks and that appears to be what is happening. If there is indeed crystallization of job growth then that would have to be more than enough suasion for the Federal Reserve to begin normalizing interest rates, which ultimately should dampen expectations for stock price appreciation.